New Year's in Crabapple Cove
by JennyWrenn
Summary: Four months after BJ comes home to Mill Valley, things aren't as perfect as he'd hoped they would be. He and Peg aren't getting along, he can't sleep, and he's drinking a lot of gin. He calls Hawkeye looking for comfort and ends up in Crabapple Cove.
1. Chapter 1

BJ crept down the stairs, careful not to make enough noise to wake his wife or daughter. This was the third time this week he'd woken up in the middle of the night, aching. His whole body hurt: his head pounded, his stomach was tight, and his arms and legs felt heavy. He quietly filled a glass on the sideboard and collapsed into a chair at the dining room table. The gin burned clean all the way to his stomach, but it didn't seem to ease the knot there. The clock in the living room chimed quietly and BJ sighed. It was a quarter after one. He had to be at the hospital at seven. His head buzzed slightly from gin and exhaustion.

Without thinking, BJ reached for the phone, dialing the number he knew by heart.

"Hello?" The groggy voice, thick with New England accent, shattered the remaining fragments of BJ's control. He almost hung up the phone right then and there.

"H-Hawk? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Beej?" The voice sounded clearer, and laced with something. Worry? Happiness? "What's wrong? What time is it?"

"It's a quarter after one, Hawk. I guess that means it's a quarter after four there. I'm sorry. I-I just-I just needed to hear your voice. That's stupid. Look, go back to sleep. I'm fine." BJ's cheeks burned with embarrassment. What was he thinking? Who in their right mind made long-distance, cross-country phone calls to old army buddies at this time of night?

"No, Beej, you're not fine. Just-just give me a minute to wake up. It's good...it's good to hear your voice." Hawkeye's voice was a little more alert and definitely concerned. What was going on in Mill Valley? BJ would never call in the middle of the night if everything was fine.

As Hawkeye spoke, BJ could picture him standing there in blue flannel pants and a white t-shirt. He was probably wearing that stupid red robe and his steel-gray hair was probably flopping down over his eyes. BJ's heartrate picked up just a bit at the thought. Groaning, he stretched the phone cord over to the sideboard and refilled his glass. The clink of the gin bottle seemed to rouse Hawkeye completely.

"Are you drunk, BJ?" Hawkeye's voice was gentle, far more gentle than BJ felt he deserved.

"Uh, no, Hawk...at least not yet." With that, BJ downed another glass of clear fire. Somehow, it didn't taste right, not after all the turpentine they'd drunk together in the Swamp. He coughed. "Sorry, Hawk, I don't know what's the matter with me. I just couldn't sleep, and I hurt all over. It's been like this all week."

Hawkeye grimaced. He knew exactly what was bugging his best friend, or at least he hoped he did. He just didn't think BJ would be able to understand. A flush warmed him from head to toe as he envisioned the tall, sandy-haired doctor standing there, barefoot, wearing respectable gray pajamas and that blinding white smile.

"Look, Beej, where's Peg?" Just saying the name punched all the breath from Hawkeye's lungs.

"Huh? Oh, she...um, she's upstairs, asleep." BJ's tone was one of complete disinterest. The four months since he came back from Korea had been hard ones in his house. He and Peg hadn't been able to get reacquainted like he'd expected. He didn't want to admit to Hawkeye that he'd been sleeping in the guest room for the past month. Christmas had been torture, even with Erin to share it.

"Look, Beej, every time you call, you sound exhausted. Miserable, in fact. I'm worried about you. Why don't you take some time off and come to Crabapple Cove? We'll go fishing! I can introduce you to Dad!" Hawkeye's voice was becoming more excited by the minute. How many nights had he lain awake, wishing for the sound of BJ's breathing to cut the silence of his house? Wishing he'd just appear, so Hawkeye wouldn't have to ask him to come.

Hawkeye chattered on, excited as a child at Christmas at his newest scheme. BJ's heart soared for the first time since...well, since Korea. Visiting Crabapple Cove sounded perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

BJ approached Peg as she was cooking dinner the next day. He leaned against door frame and watched his wife as she moved around the kitchen. Her ruffled blue apron matched her eyes, he realized. Why hadn't he realized that before? He sighed, unsure how to start this conversation.

Before he could say anything, Peg spoke. "You miss him, don't you?"

BJ started to deny her words, but he had promised himself he wouldn't make things worse by lying to her. "Yes."

"You look exhausted." Peg focused on the potatoes she was peeling.

"I thought I'd take a few days off and fly to Maine. Maybe a change of scenery will help." BJ didn't know which words were the right ones to explain the plane ticket he had purchased that day. He just knew he couldn't take off to visit Hawkeye without at least attempting to explain.

"Fine."

"Peg, I-"

"BJ Hunnicutt. Do not even attempt to explain this. Just go and figure it out." Peg's face was completely still, but her voice carried an edge of bitterness that hurt BJ.

BJ drew a breath. He knew Peg was letting him off easy for now, but he couldn't imagine what he was supposed to figure out. He knew she wouldn't make it easy on him forever, either. Eventually she would expect him to act like the husband he had vowed to be on their wedding day.


	3. Chapter 3

Explaining to Peg hadn't been as hard as BJ expected. She knew, somehow, that the enigmatic Doctor Benjamin Franklin Pierce was the cause of the coldness in their home. Even if she couldn't put it into words, she knew that BJ couldn't sleep because her breathing didn't sound like Hawkeye's.

Leaving Erin had been much harder. BJ cherished every moment he spent with his little girl, learning to be her daddy all over again. Feeling like a traitor and a coward, he left while she was napping so that he wouldn't have to explain to her, too. What could he possibly say?

As soon as the plane lifted off the tarmac, something eased in BJ's stomach. He leaned back in his seat, stretching his long legs out as best he could on the cramped plane, and closed his eyes. He slept for the entire flight from San Francisco to Chicago. He dreamed of Hawkeye...blue eyes, steel gray hair, long delicate fingers...infectious laughter and insatiable curiosity.

After changing planes in Chicago, he couldn't sleep any more. His flight to Portland gave him plenty of time to worry. He was wondering what exactly he was thinking leaving work and his family behind to travel across the country on a whim when the stewardess's hand on his shoulder startled him. "Something to drink, sir?"

"Gin and juice, please."

The stewardess placed a napkin on his tray, then poured his drink. Her bright smile and low-cut blouse vied furiously for BJ's attention. She leaned over him, purposefully giving him a closer look. A wave of irritation flowed through BJ as realized what was happening.

"Thanks." He grabbed a magazine from the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him, hoping desperately that she would take the hint and leave. What was the matter with him? He'd never minded a little flirtation with a pretty girl before? Now a shiver crawled down his spine. What would Hawk say? Then, angrily, why did it matter?


End file.
